A French soldier stands guard in an armoured vehicle as a helicopter carrying Army Chief of Staff General Bertrand Ract-Madoux leaves a position in the Terz valley, about 37 miles south of the town of Tessalit in northern Mali, on March 21, 2013.

In March 2012, separatist rebels and Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda exploited the political chaos following a coup in Mali and overran half of the northwest African country. Nine months later, after dawdling in the capital Bamako and handwringing at the U.N., a French-led intervention is striking back at the rebel militias. France, Mali’s former colonial ruler, is deeply invested in restoring stability to the country, but is hesitant to commit too many boots on the ground—those are being made up by Malian troops and a force comprising soldiers from neighboring West African countries. After initial successes, the coalition intervening may find itself pursuing a far more evasive enemy.